We recently connected with VVITCHBOY and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, VVITCHBOY thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

So this took me a while to really decide what I wanted to share. For me as a whole my art is an extension of myself and my highest values. I love making music more than almost anything else, but if you were to ask me what I’m really excited about right now the answer would be my book series (Immortal Verse).

I’ve been a reader of fantasy and sci-fi, as well as an enjoyer of jrpgs and anime since I was a tween. I’ve always wanted to make my own worlds and stories, but for years any attempt to do this inevitably fizzled out. When I first moved out of my parents house back in 2008 me and my housemate collectively cobbled together an alternate world full of magic and steampunk contraptions loosely based on our favorite games and shows. over the years we continued to add countries and characters and always intended to make a video game or a comic or something out of it.

years later I was still tweaking things and aspects as well as cultivating my own list of evolving and changing characters. One day something clicked and I decided it was time to write a book. Now I’ve written two and am currently working on my third.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Okay for sure. So I’m VVITCHBOY (or Johnny Vv) and I’m a multiform creator. I’m a Goth rapper/recording artist (trust me it’s awesome) as well an author, event promoter, martial artist, and student of the occult. For the purposes of this interview let’s focus on the first two things as they are what I have put the most energy into.

I first got pretty into music when I was a teen. I remember getting my first rap cd’s from my neighbor and borrowing my first metal cd (Ozzy’s Blizzard of Oz) from a classmate. I’ve always felt like I wanted to rap, my dad was even a decently successful local rapper (Prophet Allah of Backwoods) but I often felt alienated from the greater hip hop culture because I wasn’t what you might call “street.” Nor did I perform the typical feats of black masculinity society seems to enjoy pushing on us. And this was like 2004-2008 so long before Lil’ Wayne and Juice Wrld, or whoever could tell little black boys that it’s okay to be different and have emotions- but I digress. I also had this fasciation with metal and while it started with like Ozzy, Slipknot, Manson, Kittie, Korn etc… I started gravitating toward more Goth (80’s industrial and beyond…) music and culture. I often thought about mixing the two but for a while wasn’t sure how to go abut it.

In 2013 me and my friend started a Nerdcore Rap group called the Last Wordbenders and that was honestly my start in the music industry. We got booked for a few shows but it soon became apparent that we’d need to cultivate our own relationships with venues and act as our own promoters in order to put on the kinds of shows we wanted. Our group ended up separating a few years later after a good run but I still wanted to do music, and I had acquired the necessary skills and experience to make a solo career viable. in 2018 VVITCHBOY was born.

I don’t really consider myself to be Nerdcore in the traditional sense. To be clear I love the Nerdcore scene and it is quite inclusive, with people rapping/singing about their fandoms and obsessions. I just happen to be obsessed with fantasy literature, mythology, goth culture, magick, and booty (lol)

Essentially I make spooky sad boy music to [redacted] to. My shows are hype, fun, and occasionally surreal. They also usually feature my beloved dancer Twisted Unicorn.

I also write weird speculative fiction books. And While I love high fantasy authors like Brandon Sanderson and Robert Jordan, my style is certainly similar to Neil Stephenson or even movie directors like Tarantino- but with a fantasy/scifi twist. I’d say that sets me quite apart from my contemporaries.

I’m the most proud of doing things my own way and having it pay off. I’m ten years into this artist lifestyle and it’s gone through many shifts. I’ve made songs I no longer play or share. I’ve written short stories that have never seen the light of day. But now, whatever else can be said about me. I consistently create interesting and well produced art. And even better I get to share it with anyone who wishes to check it out.

When it comes down to it, my brand, my creed, what I want others to know is this: Be authentic. No matter what it is, or what you’re into, who you’ve been, what you’ve been, whatever. If you want to create, if you want to live a certain way and It isn’t hurting anyone else or infringing on their autonomy then do it. No matter what. Always be yourself and make it memorable.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

…. *hollow laughter*

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I grew up in near poverty. To be clear my parents and relatives did their bests for me and I never went hungry or went without cloths or a place to sleep. But all the same growing up poor and black in the south isn’t for the faint of heart. it came with it’s own baggage and limiting beliefs about myself and what it was possible for me to do and accomplish. In addition to that I was very socially awkward a child, with a speech impediment and didn’t have many friends.

I grew up feeling like I constantly wasn’t good enough. And I developed this like, need to achieve greatness. I’ve wanted to be rich and famous since I could comprehend what it could entail. I constantly felt like I needed to be the best, most popular and I was far from it leading to years of self doubt and even hatred.

As I grew and got into martial arts, I got in shape. I got better at talking to people, I started harnessing my creative talents. I got popular. But my need to improve and matter also grew. I developed this very unhealthy habit of conditional merit based self acceptance. I was okay as long as I remained ripped, as long as I had packed shows, as long as people listened to my music.

It’s taken a while but I’m learning to let all that go. To stop acting as if I’m one off day away from sliding into indolence and obscurity. It’s enough that we are alive, and it’s enough that we strive for true self discovery and acceptance.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://l.instagram.com/?u=https%3A%2F%2Flinktr.ee%2FVvitchboy666&e=AT3CaXv96sDY-hBQXiZVmOkTdu2WMk10tnqGjMWqJTC4EqJy0lUzdWhSGzX4NbqZo6YcjmyGts5-s5fRFeSBnkt_tFHW4GPS
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vvitchboy.exe/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/infinatemeowmeow/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/i/flow/login?redirect_after_login=%2Fvvitchboy
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Vvitchboyexe
• Other: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BVGSGM6W?binding=paperback&ref=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_pc_tpbk links to my books!!!

Image Credits
Photos by: Veronica Stein (other than the one of my books) model pictured: Twisted Unicorn (aka Miss Vee)